James Logan pounds Cal High in NCS Division I baseball quarterfinal

SAN RAMON -- The James Logan High baseball team is playing its best ball of the season and that continued Friday when it blasted host California 10-3 in a North Coast Section Division I quarterfinal.

It was the seventh straight win for the No. 6 seed Colts (19-7), who advance to face No. 2 De La Salle (18-7) in a semifinal Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Concord. It will be a rematch of the 2011 NCS championship game won by Logan.

After suffering some uncharacteristic losses in Mission Valley Athletic League play, Logan righted the ship late in the season and has clinched a spot as one of the final four teams left.

"This senior class has been real successful," Colts coach John Goulding said. "That's four league championships in a row. They knew the talent level we had. They came out early thinking this might be pretty easy. We really needed some adversity to get them thinking the right way."

Adversity came in the form of a season sweep at the hands of Kennedy-Fremont and a loss to Irvington, both teams that finished in the bottom half of the MVAL standings.

"Those early losses taught us a lesson," senior centerfielder and leadoff hitter Amalani Fukofuka said. "Our coach really helped us in practice. We made some changes to start playing better."

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Fukofuka helped set the tone against No. 3 seed Cal (19-7), the only team that's beaten top-seeded Granada (24-1) this season. He went 3 for 4 and finished a home run short of the cycle. He was walked intentionally in his final at bat.

The top three hitters in Logan's order went 7 for 12 with five RBIs and four runs scored. Behind Fukofuka, Isaiah Bond was 2 for 3 with two doubles and four RBIs. One of those doubles followed the intentional walk to Fukofuka. Alex Martinez, who also earned the win on the mound, was 2 for 5.

Martinez, who pitched a one-hit shutout in that 2011 championship game, allowed three runs over six innings to get the win. He was staked to a 7-0 lead by the third inning.

"Good stuff happened early and we got ahead and the confidence just got big," Goulding said. "They realized they can hit and it just builds on itself. They know with Alex on the mound it's going to be tough for the other team. He's been so good for so long. They know who he is and his reputation, winning championship games. That makes a big difference."

The early innings were disastrous for Cal. After Fukofuka singled to lead off the game, Bond put down a sacrifice bunt but the throw to first sailed down the right field line and Fukofuka scored.

The Grizzlies committed four errors in the first three innings as Logan jumped ahead.

Cal fought its way back with three runs in the third, and got the tying run to the plate. But Martinez retired Austin Chauvin on a deep fly ball to right to end the Grizzlies' biggest threat.

Logan tacked on single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh to put the game back out of reach.